A Comparative Study On Cultural Dimensions Of The Official Websites Of Chinese And American Automobile Enterprises Under The Multimodal Framework

The thesis selects four parts of the contents of corporate websites of five Chinese automobile companies and three American automobile companies for comparison and research based on systematic functional linguistics and visual grammar.Besides,the cultural dimensions are a defining ruler.Therefore,a multi-modal discourse analysis of the four parts of the above-mentioned corporate website was conducted by using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods.It first introduces the research background and significance,research questions,and framework structure,then reviews the literature on multimodal discourse analysis theory,website research,and corporate culture,revealing its development trends and related deficiencies.Next,the theoretical framework and research methods of the thesis are explained.In the empirical research part,the specific research corpus in website analysis is determined,and then the four major corpora selected are researched and discussed in detail in combination with multimodal discourse analysis theory.In the analysis of the corpus of Chinese and American automobile companies' official websites,the differences in four corporate culture dimensions are drawn.Research shows that the conceptual and interpersonal meanings of texts are expressed through transitivity,mood,modalities,and person systems.Different text structures and characteristics are suitable for different systems to study;the representational meaning of image is constructed through narrative and conceptual processes,while interactive meaning is reflected through contact and social distance.A series of analysis can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the corporate culture,because the images and texts on the Chinese and American automobile company websites explain and complement each other,making the meaning more precise.Besides,based on the cultural dimension of the meaning of the text and image,Chinese automobile companies are more inclined to collectivism,focusing on social rank and status,high power distance index between superior and subordinate relationships,and specialism in management systems;American automobile companies are biased toward individualism,focusing on themselves development and personal achievements,the power distance index between superiors and subordinates is low,and the management system is biased towards universalism.This paper discusses the cultural dimension differences between Chinese and American automobile companies from the perspective of cross-culture,further studies the possible conflicts of corporate cultural integration caused by cultural dimension differences,and proposes corresponding suggestions and specific measures for the cultural integration of Chinese and American automobile companies,in order to provide directions for the corporate cultural integration of Chinese and American companies.